Google Announces New Home Phone Service, Fiber Phone

Google has been expanding its services quite considerably lately. About this time last year, the first indications of their mobile service, known as Project Fi, came to light. A service which looked to offer a more affordable way to pay for only the data you are using. However, it is a service which in spite of piggybacking off T-Mobile and Sprint’s networks, is one which is rather lacking in device compatibility with only a select number of Nexus devices able to take advantage of the service. More recently though, rumblings had started to emerge that Google was also planning on launching a home phone service. The initial reports alluded to this being an extension of their high-speed internet service, Google Fiber and as such, the latest addition would come in the form of the 'Google Fiber Phone'. Well that is exactly what Google announced earlier today.

Google has now introduced its Fiber Phone service and notes that for a lot of people, landlines are still a very important aspect. The service is one which Google states will offer unlimited local and nationwide calls for a $10 per month additional cost to your existing Fiber plan. International call rates will be maintained at the same rate that they are available through Google Voice and many of the landline features you would expect will be available, including the likes of call waiting, Caller ID and emergency service calls. Those contemplating using Fiber Phone can port their number over or start afresh with a new one. The big benefit to some will be how Fiber Phone makes use of the cloud for its phone service. Essentially, meaning that you can use your Fiber Phone service with any connected device including your home phone, mobile or computer and offering the ability to take your home calls while away from home.

For those looking to sign up to the service, it seems the rolling out of Fiber Phone will be along the same lines of Google Fiber. So the initial rolling out will begin in a select number of cities and will gradually expand to other areas that already support Google Fiber's internet service. Details on this roll out were not provided, although Google has released a signup page for those interested. You can find the link to the signup page as well as the general announcement by heading through the source link below.

John has been writing about and reviewing tech products since 2014 after making the transition from writing about and reviewing airlines. With a background in Psychology, John has a particular interest in the science and future of the industry. Besides adopting the Managing Editor role at AH John also covers much of the news surrounding audio and visual tech, including cord-cutting, the state of Pay-TV, and Android TV. Contact him at [email protected]